Tenants' Child Burned by Bathtub Water

Tenants sued landlord for negligence after their child was burned by bathtub water in their apartment. Landlord asked the court to dismiss the case without a trial. Landlord claimed that tenants improperly sought to apply a 1997 building code provision retroactively to the 1931 building. The 1997 law required bathtub water temperature control valves to keep water temperature from going over 120 degrees Fahrenheit. The court ruled against landlord. Applying the 1997 law to facts that occurred in 2000 wasn't applying the law retroactively. To exempt from the law the water temperature in landlord's building because it was built in 1931 was illogical and contrary to landlord's own evidence that the water temperature could be up to 140 degrees. Both landlord and the building's super admitted that the building's hot water temperature was higher than the maximum required.

Williams v. Jeffmar Mgmt. Corp.: NYLJ, 12/1/05, p. 24, col. 1 (Sup. Ct. Bronx; Billings, J)